Non-Rival Rivalries That Should Die in SEC Reorganization

Razorbacks have a couple plus some others around the league that haven't been real rivals for years

Author:
Andy Hodges
Publish date:
Jul 11, 2022 7:24 PM EDT

In this story:

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Maybe there is a silver lining to all of this conference re-alignment stuff going on these days.

In the SEC in general, and Arkansas in particular, it's a rare opening to dump some games called rivalries that, well, really aren't.

No matter what shape the league takes, the guess is it won't look like it does now in terms of divisions.

Everybody has their own opinion about what should be done, but really the only thing fairly certain is it won't look like it does these days.

There was an interesting story the other day at The Grove Report on what rivalries in the league should be kept together. Not a lot to disagree with there.

From the Razorbacks' point of view, though, maybe there's a chance they will finally have a true rival. It will probably remain a one-way rivalry, but the fans will be fired-up about it.

The Obvious New Rivals for Fans

Texas is the obvious choice, of course. Hog fans love to hate anything with the Longhorns more than they like winning against anybody else.

The only problem is the Longhorns really don't care about the Razorbacks. They refuse to hate them back, reserving most of that for Oklahoma and Texas A&M.

The guess here, though, is Oklahoma may soon become just as big. Geography has a great deal to do with that. The Sooners being good in several sports is another part.

We'll throw out the old days and only look at what happen when the SEC blew up conference norms adding the Hogs in 1992.

Since then, Oklahoma wins 53% of the time against SEC teams. Texas isn't quite as good, winning just 46.7% of the time.

The Sooners have won nearly 60% of the games against the Longhorns over that time span, so Hog fans might want to re-adjust exactly who is the better team coming to the SEC and will almost certainly be on the schedule every year in every sport.

Geography will almost guarantee that happens.

Can Hogs Quit Making Mizzou a Rival?

Despite the best efforts at Arkansas, this whole Missouri rivalry thing has never caught on. Nobody really cares, which could be why the Tigers have won all but two of the matchups since 2014.

Exactly what Missouri fans get terribly worked up for is somewhat of a mystery. There's not really a clear direction on that.

The Hogs don't appear that worked up, either, despite the best marketing attempts to constantly remind fans it's a rival game all year, even during the summer.

Nobody is buying it, despite getting some players and administration folks to jump up and down when they get to keep the trophy for a year, which may be something kids today really like.

Could LSU ‘Battle of Boot’ Be in Jeopardy?

The trophy is huge and has spent most of the time in Baton Rouge, but it has garnered mild interest on both sides over the years.

When this game was played the day after Thanksgiving, it was more of a rival game. The whole boot thing was kind of interesting and had a little extra meaning on a game when the nation watched.

It was the only game going for a lot of years.

Now it's played on Saturday and the Hogs finally won last year for the first time in five years. That was the theme last year when the Razorbacks won just about every game they call a rivalry.

Hogs Need Wins to Make Aggies a Rival

Since this series started back in 2009, the Hogs haven't won 31% of the time.

Last year's win by the Razorbacks ended a nine-game winning streak by the Aggies.

If you want to have a true rivalry it needs to be a little closer to splitting the games. Without that, the fans of the team losing usually lose interest.

Unless it's Texas.

Arkansas fans carry that to the grave and beyond.